Keefe makes some lineup tweaks at practice ahead of Game 4
After diverting away from the toughness of Simmonds and Clifford for Game 3, it appears Keefe will once again leave the pair in the press box for Game 4 - at least that's the way it's looking after Saturday's practice. The Leafs took to the ice for a short 20 minute session this afternoon where Jack Campbell departed after one drill, as they continue to manage his workload.
Petr Mrazek skated with the team once again as he and Erik Kallgren stayed for the remainder of practice to get in some reps and to do whatever they could to sharpen their tools in case either netminder is called upon.
Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin were once again the fourth pairing for the Leafs and look to be scratched Sunday night, meaning that everyone's favourite defender, Justin Holl, will be in the lineup again due to his PK applications.
Up front, Keefe stuck with the same lines that he ended last night's game with, which means Spezza will return to 4th line duties in Game 4. In case you forgot the lines the Leafs used the second half of the game yesterday, here's what they were.
Kerfoot-Matthews-Marner
Nylander-Tavares-Kase
Mikheyev-Kampf-Engvall
Bunting-Blackwell-Spezza
Keefe reunited the "KEM" line (Mikheyev, Kampf and Engvall), who looked fantastic once back together and swapped Bunting and Kerfoot on the first and fourth line. Obviously everyone prefers Bunting with Matthews and Marner, but defensively, Kerfoot is much better so it's reasonable as to why Keefe made the change. Game 4 may start with those lines, but don't be surprised if Bunting does get the additional shift with the top line here and there.
| POLL | ||
MAI 7 | 420 ANSWERS Keefe makes some lineup tweaks at practice ahead of Game 4 How long will Michael Bunting be on 4th line duty? | ||
| Less than a game | 95 | 22.6 % |
| Just for Game 4 | 74 | 17.6 % |
| For the remainder of the series | 70 | 16.7 % |
| He'll move around as needed | 181 | 43.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
